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Hatsubai « The standard stratocaster »
Published on 04/25/11 at 15:46The Fender Standard series strat is probably the most well known and most popular strat out there. It's a mid grade model strat that features most of the features everybody wants in a regular strat. They come with an alder body, maple neck with your choice of maple or rosewood fretboards, a vintage tremolo, SSS configuration, volume knob, two tone knobs and a 5 way switch.
UTILIZATION
The standard series is built off of the original '50s strats in the day but updated just a touch. It has a modern C shaped neck that feels comfortable in most people's hands. It should be very easy to adapt to no matter what preference you have regarding neck thickness. The radius is the standard 9.5'' radius that most people seem to get along with. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the smaller 9.5'' radius, but it's all personal preference. One problem I have with these guitars is that they only have 21 frets. I really wish it would have 22 frets like the American series... Fretwork on this is probably the biggest thing most people wonder about, and to be honest, these things are about on par with MIA strats.
SOUNDS
I'm not a huge fan of the stock pickups. They can work, but I find them to be a bit bland sounding. Once you replace the pickups, they can really come alive. Alder bodies with maple necks just seem to be a match made in heaven, and that combo tends to work with most any aftermarket pickups you can throw at it. I'm a fan of using the DiMarzio Area series in these guitars to really give them some more life.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're in the market for a strat, this is probably the model you'll be looking at the most. It's a great guitar for the price, and with a pickup swap, it can be a wonderful player's guitar. Keep in mind that it's an MIM strat, and while the fretwork tends to be pretty good, there are some real dogs out there. Like all Fenders, you should really play a bunch of them before taking the plunge of buying one.
UTILIZATION
The standard series is built off of the original '50s strats in the day but updated just a touch. It has a modern C shaped neck that feels comfortable in most people's hands. It should be very easy to adapt to no matter what preference you have regarding neck thickness. The radius is the standard 9.5'' radius that most people seem to get along with. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the smaller 9.5'' radius, but it's all personal preference. One problem I have with these guitars is that they only have 21 frets. I really wish it would have 22 frets like the American series... Fretwork on this is probably the biggest thing most people wonder about, and to be honest, these things are about on par with MIA strats.
SOUNDS
I'm not a huge fan of the stock pickups. They can work, but I find them to be a bit bland sounding. Once you replace the pickups, they can really come alive. Alder bodies with maple necks just seem to be a match made in heaven, and that combo tends to work with most any aftermarket pickups you can throw at it. I'm a fan of using the DiMarzio Area series in these guitars to really give them some more life.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're in the market for a strat, this is probably the model you'll be looking at the most. It's a great guitar for the price, and with a pickup swap, it can be a wonderful player's guitar. Keep in mind that it's an MIM strat, and while the fretwork tends to be pretty good, there are some real dogs out there. Like all Fenders, you should really play a bunch of them before taking the plunge of buying one.